If you or a loved one is experiencing a terminal illness, finding the best care option is an important way to find comfort and support. Two common care options are palliative care and hospice care. While both options share the same goal of providing comfort and support to individuals and their families, they offer slightly different approaches.
Both hospice and palliative care are meant for people experiencing terminal illnesses. Hospice care is offered to individuals in the last 6 months of their life, while palliative care is intended for those at any stage of a serious or terminal illness. Hospice care focuses mainly on providing comfort and pain relief, but palliative care may continue to offer treatment for an individual’s terminal illness in addition to pain management.
What Is Palliative Care?
Palliative care is a care service offered to individuals who have serious or terminal illnesses. Anyone of any age with any serious illness can enroll in palliative care. In palliative care, healthcare professionals, patients, and caretakers all work together to manage a patient’s pain symptoms and medical treatments.
Palliative care teams include providers who offer help that goes beyond just managing medical symptoms. Palliative care teams will work together to manage symptoms, pain, and other challenges associated with serious illness. This team can include doctors, nurses, social workers, chaplains, and therapists. They work closely with patients and their families to develop a personalized care plan that addresses a patient’s unique needs and preferences.
Palliative care can be provided in a variety of settings, including hospitals, nursing homes, and home environments. The setting will depend on the patient’s individual needs and preferences. Palliative care teams may also provide support to families after the death of a loved one.
What Is Hospice Care?
Hospice care is a specific kind of palliative care meant for individuals near the end of their life due to illness. Hospice care focuses on pain and symptom relief and not on medical treatments. Hospice care is typically provided in a home or hospice facility, offering a peaceful and supportive environment.
Like palliative care teams, hospice teams are made up of doctors, nurses, social workers, chaplains, and therapists. Teams work together to manage pain, symptoms, and other challenges, ensuring that the patient is as comfortable as possible and that the patient’s family is supported.
One of the primary goals of hospice care is to allow individuals to spend their final days in peace. This involves meeting an individual’s emotional needs, including spending time with loved ones, engaging in hobbies, or enjoying the simple pleasures of life. Hospice care provides the necessary support to make this possible.
How Are Hospice & Palliative Care Different?
Hospice and palliative care may seem similar, but there are some key differences between these care options. Four of the main differences between hospice and palliative care are:
- Who is eligible: Hospice care is reserved for individuals with a terminal illness and a life expectancy of six months or less. Patients can access palliative care earlier in their illness and while they are receiving treatment.
- Treatments & focus: Hospice care focuses on providing comfort and support during the end-of-life period and meeting patients’ emotional needs. Palliative care offers supportive care too, but can include a focus on illness treatment and symptom management throughout the entire illness journey.
- Care Settings: Hospice care is often provided in a home or hospice facility. Palliative care can happen in hospitals, nursing homes, and home environments.
- Support team: Hospice care typically includes medical care, nursing services, counselling, spiritual support, and social work services. Palliative care may also include these services, but providers can be more tailored to the individual’s specific needs and preferences.
Which Care Option Is Right for Me?
Ultimately, palliative care options are ideal for those who likely have six or more months to live, and hospice care is best for individuals who will likely not live for another six months.
Signs that hospice or palliative care might be appropriate include increasing medical and personal needs, concern about burdening loved ones, frequent hospitalizations, loss of appetite, loss of energy, worsening pain or other symptoms, inability to return to a previous level of well-being, and unpleasant side effects from treatments.
For family and personal caregivers, signs that hospice or palliative care might be the right choice include physical or emotional exhaustion, guilt or feeling overwhelmed, and difficulty making plans due to uncertainty. Healthcare professionals can help individuals and their families explore the right care options.
Hospice care and palliative care are similar services, so the one you choose will depend more on your goals. Hospice may be the better choice if you no longer desire to receive any medical treatments for your condition and simply want to spend the rest of your time meaningfully and comfortably.
Meanwhile, palliative care may be better for those who want to manage their symptoms, but continue treatment. If you wish to continue receiving medical treatment for your disorder, even in the last six months of life, or you are not in the last six months of life, palliative care may be the option for you.
At Del Corazon Hospice, our professional team can help care for you or your loved one through your hospice journey. Hospice is not an easy experience, and we want to support you through it. You can contact us today to learn more about our hospice care programs and see how our team can help you.